I have some stripped out hex head screws/bolts that attach the fairings to the bike. Some are also badly corroded. I also do not have any clips that the owners manual says I should have.
Where would you recommend I look? Should I go with OEM or is there a better option?
OEM is the only thing that will fit properly for the bolts. They are shouldered bolts and anything else One could cobble together would look like just that.
Occasionally on eBay people will offer up a bag 'o bolts after parting the bike out, other than that it's dealer pricing.
There are many different body clips that can be substituted for OEM, and lots of threads on here for that, lemme find a link...
There are alternates for the black plastic clips - someone will come along and post the link. btw the stock ones are reusable. - On the screws, I havent used anything but the OEM, they just look right and fit on the bike, I suppose you could use something else although I havent chased that down.
I've always gone for the oem fittings. I use powersportscompany.com in Beaver Dam WI. Buying from their oem fiche on the website nets a 25% discount. There are other outfits like this on the web. A honda dealer in Mason City IA gets lots of recommendations. I believe he offers 20% to VFRD peeps. And since I seem to rash up my plastic semi-regularly I order lots extra, especially the plastic body clips (among other locations, they are used to hold the two lower side cowls together at the bottom and must be removed to change the oil filter. These get a lot of road debris and seem to break regularly).
And although I have yet to use them, I've bookmarked Bolt Depot - Nuts and Bolts, Screws and Fasteners online on the recommendation a VFRD member.
Man, this is exactly what I was looking for. All great information! You guys are all so helpful, I can't thank you enough.
I got to thinking about this bike last night, I am going to look at this as a rescue. I am going to get this bike to look as good as my 20 year old Nighthawk eventually. With this forum, I really don't think it will be a problem.
Take a look under your bike where the two side cowls meet. They overlap and are connected together for a certain length. There are two hole in each cowl for plastic body clips. If you look at oem fiche there will be an exploded view. That might help. You can look at fiche on-line at any of the places that sell Honda parts on-line.
When I was recovering from my tip over i ordered all the replacement parts from Ron Ayers. Got everything: brackets, fastners and replacement panels...
Azzcuse the dirty underside, I musta hit a puddle or something.
Nice and tidy. Cut the zip tie and install new when done. Less garage words used versus stock bits. :fing02:
The engineer that proposed the cheap plastic junky OEM fasteners we have to use now
should be horse whipped! The VFR bikes are too nice to not have Dzus fasteners.
End of thread · 17 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 1 Jul 2012